5-year-old hit by car while crossing road to bus in Kennebunk, police say

KENNEBUNK, Maine — Police are blaming the blinding sun for a Wednesday morning incident in which a Kennebunk 5-year-old was hit by an oncoming car while crossing the road to the school bus.

The girl, whose name has not been released, suffered injuries not considered life-threatening in the accident, which took place on Sea Road. The girl was transported to Maine Medical Center after the 8 a.m. incident, Kennebunk Lt. Dan Jones told the Bangor Daily News Wednesday.

Regional School Unit 21 Superintendent Andrew Dolloff said Wednesday the family of the girl has informed school officials that X-rays have come back negative, that she has not suffered any broken bones or internal injuries. Dolloff said the girl is a student at Kennebunk Elementary School.

According to police, the girl was crossing the street to reach a bus, which was stopped and facing westbound. Gregory Peck, 24, was driving eastbound and reportedly was blinded by the morning sunlight when he allegedly struck the girl, Jones said. The speed limit in that location is 35 miles per hour, and Jones said Peck was not believed to be speeding at the time.

“At this point, unless something comes to light that we’re not aware of, there are no plans on charging him,” Jones said. “There’s no reason to believe [speed] was a factor. … I was the first [police officer] there, and driving there, the sun was really bad.”

Jones said the girl was conscious after the accident.

“She was able to speak and answer questions,” Jones said. “She wasn’t able to speak in complete sentences [because she was crying], but she was aware and understood what we were saying.”

Dolloff said support is being made available to the other kids who were on the bus at the time of the incident.

“There were students from both of those schools [Kennebunk Elementary and nearby Sea Road School] on the bus where the young lady was struck, so we offered counseling for the students and informed parents of what happened,” he said.